All Forum Posts by: Martin Garcia

No.....

1. Get contract.
2. Open title.
3. Do what underwriter says to get marketable title.
4. THEN you can assign the contract.

Sometimes the underwriter's requirements are simple as an affidavit of heirship that's easy to get or as difficult as getting an affidavit of heirship when no one is around to attest.  Sometimes requires a court order.  Sometimes the underwriter's requirements are bat-s!t crazy (then you either move the file to another title company or pass on the deal).

After you do one, it becomes clear.  Not sure about "building rapport".  For me, it was sending a letter then contract, but whatever works for you.

Hope this cleared things up.

Nick -

That "bunch of work" is not yours; it is the work of the probate attorney THEY will need to hire. And the attorney can be paid out of the proceeds of the estate if they don't have any money. This is a legal process, and we are not attorneys.

Just do your inspections, write your offer, and put in there you will close in .... days (give yourself plenty of time) SUBJECT to probate court/attorney approval. If anything happens with the probate court, the deal will just die a natural death.

Your contract should already say that the sellers must be able to provide clear title.

Also, NEVER give sellers any money. Say that you will make a $100 deposit payable to the closing attorney once the court has approved the sale and you have clear title. You really have nothing to lose by putting in an offer.

The spouse will be appointed the PR by the court. That person ie the PR or Executor will be the person that can sell the house.

Sharon

I started out wholesaling and birddogging, eventually focusing on probate properties.  It was only after the crash that I went to law school and became an attorney, so I'm very familiar with these deals.

Wholesaling probate *contracts* is no different than wholesaling any other source.  You get a property under contract with the heirs.  Ideally you want to get all the purported heirs on board first.  Take the contract to the title company and open escrow.  The underwriter will instruct the escrow agent on what needs to happen before a title policy will issue.  Once the deal is in good shape, you can assign that contract for a fee - just like any other wholesale deal.

Because each property will have a very different set of facts and circumstances, I can't tell you what will be required.  But your job as wholesaler is to get marketable title (an industry term of art).  Most of these can be resolved by affidavits of heirship.  More complex cases may require opening a probate case to get a court order.  I've been hired by heirs to do exactly that.

If you are doing this in Texas, you should become highly familiar with the Texas Estates Code. Here's a PDF with bookmarks, and here's a link to the Texas statutes.  And here's a link to a PDF if Texas intestate descent and distribution chart.  The reason you need this is to know if you are dealing with a proposed heir, or just some rando looking to scam you.